Gluten Digest Pills? A Cure Or Not Even Close?

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Ok.... my brother in law is into holistic medicine gave me a bottle of these pills with the best of intentions.... They are NOW Gluten Digest. The bottle says they help digest gluten but the warning says in bold: If you have Celiac Disease - do not use unless under a doctors care.

I'm positive for Celiac (blood test and endo) so I am not trying anything without talking to my doctor, but as I'm sure you can all atest to..... doctors dont live it as we do so I'm not sure what to think. Will he have a clue or just say no?

I figured the best place to start to ask was here with all my fellow Celiac-ers

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I'm sorry, but until something like Celiac, or gluten-intolerance is better understood----if not at least by the medical community (!) there will be no magical pill. What your brother offers is like the old-fashioned elixer that many took town-to-town that existed of nothing more than nice percentage of alcohol content. If it were that easy, don't you think every one of us would jump at the opportunity? It's just not that easy. At least right now. Hopefully, down the road someone will figure us out and come up with something that will actually help!! But it's not your brother, I'm sorry.

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This is a controversial topic on the forum. I used to be on the other side of this issue myself, but changed my mind after trying Vita Cost DPP-IV. The other posters are quite right, it is not a cure all and can't help much. However there is some evidence that DPP-IV can help digest some gluten in a lab environement. I don't know if there have been any tests on real people though.

I do know that it seems to shorten my symptoms duration some. So I take the Bio Core brand from Vita Costs when I think I may have gotten a little CC from something. I would never use it as a crutch to eat gluten on purpose, and I don't think the results of doing that would be at all good. I think it helps me a little, but a little is better than nothing IMHO.

I don't know of studies on people that would tell us if the stuff actually helps prevent damage. We really don't know if it prevents damage or makes things worse. For example, breaking the gliaden into smaller fragments may allow it to penetrate the intestinal wall more easily. That could be a bad, bad thing.

So it is something without a clear answer from medicine. I pasted in some research info from the Pub Med site, but it is only about testing in a lab, not in people. Also, they found 2 enzymes gave the best results when combined, aspergillus pepsin ASP and the DPP-IV.

So, I say try it but remember it is not going to let you eat gluten. It may possibly help a little to digest the stuff. But only small amounts, and it does not totally fix even the small amounts either. I am not a doctor or even in the medical field, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Or two.

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this is a very debatable topic but i am celiac and i go out to friends to eat every weekend sometimes they put gluten in food they say there is nothing and this DOES help when i have small amounts of gluten by mistake . it DOES. it is enzymes, NOT A WITCH PILL. enzymes to help you get more out of your good when you are allergic to it. it helps.

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this is a very debatable topic but i am celiac and i go out to friends to eat every weekend sometimes they put gluten in food they say there is nothing and this DOES help when i have small amounts of gluten by mistake . it DOES. it is enzymes, NOT A WITCH PILL. enzymes to help you get more out of your good when you are allergic to it. it helps.

First, this is a 4 year old thread, so products and info may have changed.

At the International Celiac Disease Symposium last month, I heard a doctor speak. He is developing something like this but it is still a few years off. They did study all the "gluten eating" products and found none of them worked very well. A few were able to break down a small amount but no where near all of the gluten that was tested. The only way they can help is if they break down the gluten, very very quickly - while it is still in the stomach. Once it hits the small intestine, the reactions occur.

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I've taken digestive enzymes any time I eat out as an extra precaution, and also because meals out, even IF it's 100% gluten free, tend to be high in things people with sensitve bellies tend have issues with. I think they're occasionally useful at making eating out a more comfortable experience for me, but they didn't prevent a major glutening that still has me sick now even months later. Unfortunately it was a direct exposure to wheat and put me back to my pre gluten free days. I took four of these pills before this meal (same brand you mentioned), so I can say with certainty they did NOT work at preventing a glutening for me.

I'd be interested to see how well they work for people who are only a little gluten intolerant. I have a friend who limits his beer and pasta consumption and seems to feel well enough he doesn't cut out all sources of gluten.

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Gluten fragments that cause celiac disease are resistant to digestion, which is why the problem occurs in the first place. No one can completely digest gluten. This has been discovered numerous times by experts and is well established in the literature. Sorry bud.

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It scares me to hear that people are playing,"Russian Roulette",with a very serious disease.We can't see the internal damage that has taken place inside our bodies!I was diagnosed with Celiac disease@the age of 52! Numerous times requested testing,GI Doc always replied,"not necessary!"All those yrs.as a kid wondering,does every1 feel sick all the time?Being told over&over again,that I was faking it.(Faking what?)Constantly,feeling like a hypochondriac.Once diagnosed,went 100% gluten free.NOT feeling any better😢,in fact was getting steadily worse! ?Being??questioned?I KNOW I AM NOT EATING GLUTEN!(New team diagnosed me.)New GI Dr.&team, listened&believed😱!!Numerous tests ordered&done.Never given false hope/ info.GI Team always available to me. When I saw them,had lost 35lbs.(not trying to lose weight.)in a few months, was existing on my couch&scared to death,sick.Results poured in,was in shock😖by all the abnormal results!(Won't get into every detail.)GI instantly had me come&see him that day!Wanted to explain in detail,face to face.Made sure I fully understod, "I WAS STARVING &VERY CLOSE TO DYING~"😰Huh?!But...I'm eating!!Had lost another 5lbs.in a wk.Knew I looked hideous. Celiac disease had left me w/ lots of internal damage.(Have Lupus 2, diagnosed 5yrs.ago.)2 Autoimmune Diseases.Between the 2 villains,they had destroyed my Pancreas.Diagnosis; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficientcy.W/ out a working pancreas,any food taken in can't be digested.I have to take prescription,Pancreatic enzymes,to help digest any food that is eaten.W/every bite,nibble,lick of any food source!!If I forget=extremely sick!Anything that goes in my mouth,is researched& triple checked.On top of checking for gluten,there's numerous other things I need to avoid.I'm on a restricted diet called the,Low Fodmap Diet.Only,1 example of the damage,Celiac has caused internally.**Wrote this,since it appeared to fit this topic.**Pancreatic Enzymes are prescription&regulated to replace the exact enzymes I need in order to digest food.Also on a mega list of supplements to build up all my body was depleted of.Watched over by my Dr.Blood works done monthly to check if I'm beginning to stabilize.Weight is monitored.Find out this week if I need supplemental feedings.

**The original question was a very good 1!After my long ordeal,my opinion,make sure U are working with an excellent Dr., run any questions by your Celiac knowledgeable Dr.(Even if U think it's dumb,no?'s dumb! Only 1's U don't ask!)It's your life,take control! People(non-celiacs)may think they are helping,most don't have a clue.They are not living it. **Supplements can be very beneficial.They are not FDA regulated or a cure all.👂Listen to your body~

It scares me to hear that people are playing,"Russian Roulette",with a very serious disease.We can't see the internal damage that has taken place inside our bodies!I was diagnosed with Celiac disease@the age of 52! Numerous times requested testing,GI Doc always replied,"not necessary!"All those yrs.as a kid wondering,does every1 feel sick all the time?Being told over&over again,that I was faking it.(Faking what?)Constantly,feeling like a hypochondriac.Once diagnosed,went 100% gluten free.NOT feeling any better😢,in fact was getting steadily worse! ?Being??questioned?I KNOW I AM NOT EATING GLUTEN!(New team diagnosed me.)New GI Dr.&team, listened&believed😱!!Numerous tests ordered&done.Never given false hope/ info.GI Team always available to me. When I saw them,had lost 35lbs.(not trying to lose weight.)in a few months, was existing on my couch&scared to death,sick.Results poured in,was in shock😖by all the abnormal results!(Won't get into every detail.)GI instantly had me come&see him that day!Wanted to explain in detail,face to face.Made sure I fully understod, "I WAS STARVING &VERY CLOSE TO DYING~"😰Huh?!But...I'm eating!!Had lost another 5lbs.in a wk.Knew I looked hideous. Celiac disease had left me w/ lots of internal damage.(Have Lupus 2, diagnosed 5yrs.ago.)2 Autoimmune Diseases.Between the 2 villains,they had destroyed my Pancreas.Diagnosis; Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficientcy.W/ out a working pancreas,any food taken in can't be digested.I have to take prescription,Pancreatic enzymes,to help digest any food that is eaten.W/every bite,nibble,lick of any food source!!If I forget=extremely sick!Anything that goes in my mouth,is researched& triple checked.On top of checking for gluten,there's numerous other things I need to avoid.I'm on a restricted diet called the,Low Fodmap Diet.Only,1 example of the damage,Celiac has caused internally.**Wrote this,since it appeared to fit this topic.**Pancreatic Enzymes are prescription&regulated to replace the exact enzymes I need in order to digest food.Also on a mega list of supplements to build up all my body was depleted of.Watched over by my Dr.Blood works done monthly to check if I'm beginning to stabilize.Weight is monitored.Find out this week if I need supplemental feedings.

**The original question was a very good 1!After my long ordeal,my opinion,make sure U are working with an excellent Dr., run any questions by your Celiac knowledgeable Dr.(Even if U think it's dumb,no?'s dumb! Only 1's U don't ask!)It's your life,take control! People(non-celiacs)may think they are helping,most don't have a clue.They are not living it. **Supplements can be very beneficial.They are not FDA regulated or a cure all.👂Listen to your body~

Welcome to the forum, Bikegirl62! Ugh, like so many of us, we have suffered for years and were unable to get a correct diagnosis. I hope you feel better soon and are able to get back on your bike! I took almost a year off my bike after I fractured my back doing nothing two months after my celiac disease diagnosis. Get a bone scan as osteoporosis can be another side effect of celiac disease.

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Celiac.com was founded in 1995 by Scott Adams, author of Cereal Killers, founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and founder of The Gluten-Free Mall, who had a single goal for the site: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living a happy, healthy gluten-free life!